Amazon Appstore’s free app for today: Angry Birds (Ad-Free)

Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today’s app, for Aug. 30, 2012, is Angry Birds (Ad-Free).

Angry Birds (Ad-Free) is not available in Google Play (but the ad-supported version is). It is normally priced at $0.99 in the Amazon Appstore. As we’ve noted before, there are sometimes differences in pricing and availability between the two marketplaces.

Angry Birds (Ad-Free) is described as follows:

It’s Birds vs. Pigs!

Please note: This version requires Wi-Fi to download.

The pigs are hungry and eggs are on the menu; the survival of a flock of friendly, colorful birds is threatened. When the greedy green swine raid the flock’s nest, the unexpected happens: a rage is kindled within the birds that only revenge can quench!

Your job is to help the Angry Birds seek vengeance against the pigs with the help of a finger-powered slingshot, a good dose of strategy, and a bit of luck.

The goal of the game is to catapult each bird toward the pigs, who hide behind a variety of destructible materials. Use each bird’s unique skills to break through crates, boards, stone, ice, snow, glass, boulders, and dynamite to vanquish the devious pigs.

Angry Birds turns 2! Satisfy your sweet tooth with 15 brand new birthday cake levels. Party with the amazing expandable orange bird, and check out the spiffy new menus and graphics. Unwrap special birthday achievements, and as a birthday gift to Angry Birds fans, all episodes are now unlocked.

Angry Birds (with ads) has a 4.6-star rating in Google Play, and a 3.9 star rating in the Amazon Appstore.

We really don’t think it’s necessary to describe Angry Birds to anyone. Well, perhaps some, but since this is the only ad-free version around, buy it while it’s free.

There is also a version in the iOS App Store, which is priced at $0.99 and has a 4-star rating for the current version and 4.5-star rating overall.

This is a fantastic offering for the Amazon Appstore FAOTD. Still, in general we continue to be disappointed with the program. It began promisingly enough, with Angry Birds Rio, but we’ve gotten tired of the endless games or niche apps, and especially apps which have no uptake in Google Play, and seem to be FAOTD as a desperation move by the developer. We’d like to see free versions of say, Office-compatible software or useful utilities such as CalenGoo instead of niche apps or endless games.

Those who are considering “buying” a Free Amazon Appstore app might want to consider what it means to developers.

Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term “App Store.” Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.